In some organization, “Why HR functions are treated as backend support rather than a strategy making driver wherein it plays a major role in organization & Employee development”

In some organization, “Why HR functions are treated as backend support rather than a strategy making driver wherein it plays a major role in organization & Employee development”

Any team or discipline or function in an organization can become a strategic partner - a member of the executive team - as long as it demonstrates how what it does will move the business forward and help the business to achieve its profitability targets. Many HR and T&D functions do not sit at the head table because they have not integrated themselves into the business. Demonstrate your value to the business, by getting to understand it completely, work closely with operations, find your champions in other areas of the organization (those currently with seats at this table), then step forward and take a leadership position. Many companies do have HR as part of the strategy group and many have them at the head table. Find a mentor from one of these organizations.       

Donna Stevenson - President at The Capability Corps Inc

I would completely second Russell here who has, in two lines, brought out the exact reasons. I would in fact go a step further and say that the incapability of the HR dept in most of the organisations is the reason. The shift from a personnel management role to a Human Resources Development role happened rather slowly. While a few organisations have accepted and emulated the change very well, most of them are still in the process. There is a need to shift from being "employee oriented" to being "business oriented" and the change is happening, but at a slower pace. The industry also plays a major role in the speed of this metamorphosis.

Saurabh J Nehra 

Lead - HR at Infosys BPO

(1)One of the biggest reasons is that HR is a "cost center" and does not produce immediately tangible profits. It is difficult to quantize the results of HR and HR policies. This tends to marginalize the role of HR, unless management realizes the intrinsic benefits of a strong partnering relationship, and the infusion of business partners throughout the organization.- Brent Connor Recruiter at Syniverse Technologies

(2)In the past the prevailing norm was companies would actively engage in enhancing and developing their staff, defining training paths, promotion routes, job rotation, etc. and HR would lead that activity by ensuring that the employee development supported and complemented the overall organization strategy.
As change became the norm this approach became less successful as the organizational strategy changed faster that HR could develop the employees.

Nowadays the prevailing norm is that you are responsible for your career and your training and at a pinch the organization will fund it, but only if you can convince them that it really is in their best interest. HR functions have found it difficult to operate at a strategic level and downturns mean that their focus becomes managing redundancies rather than driving enhancements for an unknown future.

The word "some" in your question is key, there are still examples of organizations that use employee development as a strategic driver to business success and in those situations HR isn't just providing backend support. But they are few and far between.- John Bryden

(3)HR is usually viewed as a cost center;In a sales driven organization/sector like General Insurance, HR is primarily viewed as a process facilitator wherein there is high focus on compliances, documentation/data capture mechanisms, controls etc. However, some HR roles within such organizations/industry does have a strategic business partnering role.

Organization culture also plays a large part in such perceptions !!- Ashok Raman Director

(4)Strategy vs. "administration/backend"... I'm a firm believer that so much of this is the mindset of two people: 1. the CEO or Division Head and 2. the top HR person for the organization and or company. Many times the CEO and other managers simply do not know or understand the strategic capabilities of the HR function. They cannot value what they don't understand. It's our role to help them understand by just doing it - not waiting for permission to do it. There are so many ways to do just that. Start by making presentations in management meetings regarding the goals and objectives of the HR organization. 1. Being more productive by eliminating paper and waste - allowing you to work on the "right" stuff vs. administrivial stuff. 2. Developing your HR staff to understand the business. They should understand how the business makes money - equally as well as any line manager, This helps them connect with other managers, allows them to speak up in meetings with confidence that they know what they're talking about, better communicate and understand employee issues, attract and retain the right people and be an ambassador for the company. If you want to understand the business, read, ask questions, study the P&L 3. Use metrics and survey data, showing them how progressive organizations fare better in hires, terms, turnover, job satisfaction, customer satisfaction and ultimately profit. 4. Network with other HR professionals to keep your "best practice" knowledge current. Attend a seminar, take a class. If you're only as good as what you knew when you graduated from college or when you started this job, you're a dinosaur and can't contribute 4. train managers and employees to respect each other and their contributions. Spend time talking and walking values and reward those who do.

It's not an overnight process but "if you build it, they will come". At the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing - for the company to be profitable and have long term success. It takes everyone to pull that off - as a team. Look at any pro sports team, 1 superstar can't win the championship, it takes the strength and contributions of the whole team with a deep bench. That's what you build in the company!- JOAN WILLIAMS EXPERIENCED HUMAN RESOURCE EXECUTIVE

(5)The primary reason some HR functions are "treated as backend support rather than a strategy making driver" is because those functions behave like "backend support."

A major hot button of mine is the apparent inability of some HR staff to comprehend the importance of being a business person FIRST and foremost. Business acumen is a VITAL. It is NOT a nice to have extra. IMO, everyone who works within the umbrella of HR and labor relations should focus on being BUSINESS professionals who specialize in HR. A real understanding the dynamics of business as well as the drivers of particular industries and markets provides the context within which HR and labor relations function. It’s ONLY within this context that HR and labor relations can be value-added because it's the only way to insure that HR and labor relations are aligned with the business.

Actions speak louder than words. HR professionals who understand business, speak the language of business and conduct themselves as strategic partners, will be treated as such.- Marikay Jung Experienced HR Generalist and Staffing Professional

(6)I've been in organizations that have a strategic HR teams as well as organizations that have a tragic HR team.

Sometimes, HR being in a sorry state is caused by a higher management that is simply unaware of what a properly run HR department can contribute. Or, on a more sinister note, it simply isn't management's desire to have a fair, objective, value-adding HR function. Sadly, this does happen.

Sometimes, management knows the strategic value of HR but it's the HR practitioners that are incapable of delivering. I have seen how some HR teams are phenomenally capable on day-today operations of handling medical insurance claims, vacant leaves tracking, etc. but are sadly lacking on the higher value-add HR functions like key executive recruitment and organizational development.- Russell Sy Managing Director, Strategy & Market Dev't @ TECOM Business Parks

- Thanks to all my Linkedin members for their valuable inputs.